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Chinese/Dictionary entry

大同小异

dà tóng xiǎo yìdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
virtually the same / differing only on small points
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-ad159810c3e8ca6b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

大同小異 大同小异 [da4 tong2 xiao3 yi4] /virtually the same/differing only on small points/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 大同小異

  • 大
    dà

    big / large / great / older (than another person) / eldest (as in 大姐[dà jiě]) / greatly / freely / fully / (dialect) father / (dialect) uncle (father's brother)

    dài

    see 大夫[dài fu]

  • 同
    tóng

    like / same / similar / together / alike / with

    tòng

    used in 胡同[hú tòng] / used in 衚衕|胡同[hú tòng]

  • 小
    xiǎo

    small / tiny / few / young

  • 异
    yì

    different / other / hetero- / unusual / strange / surprising / to distinguish / to separate / to discriminate

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.